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Tuesday, 30 April 2013

Well today I completed day 6 on the 30 day shred! I can't believe it. It is still early days yet but I have seen progress already.

For example, on day one I could not do all the star jumps or jump ropes ( jumping up and down on the spot) and managed just one bicycle crunch at the end of the routine.

Today I did all the jump ropes and all the crunches at the end! I felt strong! I am so pleased at the progress in such a short space of time.

I had a rest day on Sunday which let my muscles sort themselves out.

During the weekend I got my Hipbees quilt basted. On Saturday and Sunday night I spent most of my time agonising how I was going to quilt this beauty. I am not very experienced with FMQ (free motion quilting) so was thinking about good old straight lines. However this quilt is heavy and not easy to move around.

So for the moment I am hand quilting the pink sashing with fluro pink thread. Yes DMC light effect fluro pink. Sound whacky but actually looks great against the pomegranate pink cotton.

I don't know about the blocks at the moment. We shall see!

My Emma has been drawing away too and let me present Eileen and Emily! I love their teeth!

Friday, 26 April 2013

A summary so far-
DAY 1 - very tough but I did it. Exhausted for the rest of the day and early to bed.
DAY 2 - woke up sore but not immobile. very tough again but felt great after it ALL DAY!
DAY 3 - woke up grumpy and sore. Soreness passed once doing routine again. Noticed a huge difference in my abdominal strength and did all the jumping jacks! Still having to stop on the jump ropes due to jelly legs lol! Had a sore head after it and shattered but perked up now at 8pm.

I have been eating healthily too. No whacky diets just wholegrains, wholewheat, brown rice lots of veg fruit meat etc. Basically no crisps or biccies and lots of water. Also cutting my portions right down.

All in all I am doing ok. It feels way longer than 3 days though!

Sewing wise I haven't pushed myself to do too much this week. I got the last 2 sprout blocks done for Di at Bee a Brit Stingy. I love these two.

These have been posted off to Di along with the other two turquoise blocks.

Remember this?

Well today I received my order of this -

This weekend I intend to get my wonderful Hipbees Field study quilt basted and then begin the quilting. The pink vines fabric is for the binding ( I have some more in my stash ).

I have no idea how to quilt this though! Any thoughts are very welcome!

Sorry if the exercise bit is boring but I am just trying to stay motivated!

Tuesday, 23 April 2013

Good morning all! First up I have completed 2 out of 4 bee blocks for Di in our Bee a Brit Stingy bee. Di requested the cutest sprout blocks and they are going to make a beautiful quilt full of different colours.

Today I hope to get on with some baby churns for my latest baby quilt for my etsy shop.

I am in a bit of a sombre mood today so apologies. Apologies in advance to any male readers too. After the school drop off I popped out to get some new socks ( the pup has made holes in all my socks!) and a new bra. The underwire popped out of my favourite one!

So got home tried it on and it fits fine but oh my goodness the body wearing it is truly awful at the moment. Up until having babies I have at most been a size 12. I went up to a 14 after having Jacob 8 years ago. Then fell pregnant with Emma in 2006. I ballooned with her and never really lost much. Now I am at least a size 18. I am small too.

I thought I had resigned myself to being happy with my weight etc but this morning seeing the rolls of flab popping out here, there and everywhere I think now is the time I really do something. I have done the usual female yo yo dieting in the past but have never really lost anything at all. I am a bit lazy too.

So on Instagram I saw lots of talk about the 30 day shred thingy. Now I don't want to set unrealistic goals. I just want to lose a bit of weight and not feel fat bursting out everywhere.

So Amazon have the dvd for £5.00 at the moment so how could I resist??? It is ordered and I will begin as soon as I receive it. I think to keep motivated I may need to make this a little public. Instagrammers will know that a lot of folk do the shred so I will be sharing my progress on there. This should keep me motivated. I need to think of a reward for getting through the 30 days although if it goes to plan a little change in my flabiness would be reward enough!

Anyway enough boring you all with this. I just wanted to share a little today.

Friday, 19 April 2013

Wow Friday already??? Doesn't time fly when you are having fun! Sewing done this week -

Begun a new baby quilt project for my etsy shop. Baby churn dash - each block is 6.5 inches square and there will be 42 squares in this little quilt. Lots of cutting.

I am sticking with blues and greens with this quilt. So working a little out of my usual comfort zone of pinks etc but having fun!

This is how I keep my projects organised.

These are 152 baby rectangles for the blocks. Still more cutting to do. Someone asked me last night if my mind doesn't turn to mush when doing repetitive stuff like all that cutting. Well I don't know about you but I don't mind it too much. I hate the sore back but it is cutting with a purpose. To make beautiful things!

My evening project this week has been working on more of those little cube blocks. I cut out 60 degree diamonds at the correct height I wanted from cartridge drawing paper. I use an old rotary cutter I no longer need for cutting the paper and keep it separate from my fabric rotary cutter. The cut out the diamonds from fabric. Only done one cube so far but planning a little mini of them.

These tumbling blocks can be machine sewn using y seams and without them. I love english paper piecing though so thought I would just do them this way!

The sun is shining here today and the washing is out. I think it may be time to get cutting some more of those backgrounds for the baby churn!

Thursday, 11 April 2013

Just a quick pop in (kids are fighting again!!! groan ) and driving me bananas. However, last night I got a little sewing done and cracked on with Karen's (Lisnaweary quilts) Queen Bee block for April and the Hipbees.

I love the fabrics Karen sent for this block. So fresh and pretty! This is a whirlygig block and was lovely and easy to make but looks fab!

That's all I have managed so far this week with the kids around. Love them really!

Tuesday, 9 April 2013

Hello everyone and good morning! Well this morning I was literally up with the birds. The dog woke early barking away downstairs and then the kids were up at 5.30am! Thank goodness they are still on holiday. I took the dog out to the garden in a semi conscious state but listened to the most beautiful chorus of birds awakening. Truly beautiful and I would have missed that had Mr Dog not woke us all up!

Last night I was star gazing in the garden and spotted the "plough". So in celebration of that (?) I can now reveal my finished mini quilt for the Modern She Made Swap. The theme was stars! So it is quite self explanatory what I have done.

She is called "Radiant Nova" and basically is an exploding, brightening star.

Wednesday, 3 April 2013

Hello! It has here anyway! Look, I got the washing on the line today and even sat out with a cup of tea after hanging it up. Then the kids returned with Colin and the dog and peace was shattered. Still this is life!

With the kids being on holiday there hasn't been much sewing going on here at all. But I did manage this on Sunday night. I decided to add more to my mini quilt for the latest swap I am in. I really like where this is going but I think one more border and then to the quilting!

Remember this baby quilt? It is flying off to Australia as a lovely person has bought it from my Etsy shop! As always I am a little sad to see it go but glad that someone loves it enough to give it a new home!

I am thinking about some new fabric purchases too. Colin gave me a little gift to allow me to splurge a little on some more goodies for my stash. I am, however, a terrible procrastinator when it comes to choosing!